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2814 - AlpenPix (Garden) - 2010-12-06 (Dimension: 2318 x 1762 pixels - Counter: 7273) Arnica cordifolia Locality: USA - Colorado - Mountain View Experimental Gardens, Peak 7 area, Breckenridge, Colorado, elevation 10,000 feet, USDA Zone 4. Photographer: Jane Hendrix Note: Heartleaf Arnica is the most common wildflower in our lodgepole pine forest. In the wild, because of severe environmental conditions, it produces scattered colonies of heart-shaped leaves with only a few flowers. But, when Arnica cordifolia has the sun, water and nutrients it needs, it shines as a garden plant and will bloom twice -- once in late spring and again in late summer. It retains an attractive, compact form under cultivation but it has to be monitored as its rhizomatous habit induces it to colonize large areas. A. cordifolia stands between 6 and 10 inches in bloom. It produces the form, both in flower and foliage, when grown in a sunny location in a moderately moist soil of ordinary fertility. Keeping A. cordifolia watered during dry periods will prevent the plant from going dormant after its spring bloom and will enable it to produce a second bloom. (Sent: Alpine-l@nic.surfnet.nl) (Click on the picture to enlarge) |